This was a big week of training…18+ hours. Thankfully this coming week is a recovery week.
Swim: 7400 yards
I had three swims this week; none of them were overly spectacular. My favorite part of this week’s swimming was definitely getting my new Roka Sports F2 goggles. I am in love with these goggles!! They have amazing peripheral vision and are very comfortable.
Bike: 134 miles
We finally got outside to ride on the open roads and trails this week and it.was.AWESOME!! Wednesday’s ride was my #FaveWorkout this week since it was the first time out. I had two trainer sessions (both outside in the driveway) and a long ride on the weekend as part of our brick. I felt a LOT of #bikelove this week!!
Run: 31.0 miles
WOW!! That is the most run miles I’ve seen in one week in quite a while. It was a good week of running and full of #runlove. My body feels strong, for which I am very grateful 🙂
Brick:
Our longest brick this week was 81 miles of #bikelove and 5 miles of #runlove. It was a lot hotter outside than we’ve been use to, but I guess it is time to acclimate to summer weather 🙂
This week my #FaveWorkout was FULL of #bikelove. Wednesday was our first outdoor ride on the open trails in 2015. Can you say #happygirl ?!?!?!?! I was in heaven!!
I was one with Mojo. I had the sun shining down on me. I was in my Coeur Sports tri kit…#stylishspeed and #noangrykitty. I was in heaven!!
WOW!! What an awesome week of workouts!! I felt strong both mentally and physically all week long, which is good since I’m not feeling that way at work. Only 4 more weeks of school before summer break, but who’s counting 😉
Monday:
AM: 1 hour strength training session, which was the perfect start to my week.
PM: 1 hour trainer ride…alternating between Zone 2 and Zone 3/4
Tuesday:
AM: 90 minute run with 6 x 0.3 mile hill repeats. This was my #FaveWorkout of the week
PM: 65 minute swim covering 3000 yards…I felt slow in this swim, but felt as though I had really good form.
Basil spending some time watching the birds. #sucharetriever
Wednesday:
AM: 90 minute trainer ride…we did fartleks on the bike where each person picked something different to do for 2-4 minutes every 10 minutes after the 30 minute warm-up. It was fun to have variety and not know what was coming next 😉
PM: 2500 yard swim in 55 minute that included a 1500 TT…my time trial was not where I had hoped it would be. Since I couldn’t seem to get my form down and felt like I was a fish out of water, I’ll take the sub 2:00/100 time though.
Basil helping me make dinner…she loves veggies
Thursday:
PM: 1 hour brick followed by 45 minutes of TRX…the brick felt AWESOME!! I felt like I was flying on the run!! I love it when a workout falls together so smoothly and feels so amazing!! TRX was a good mix of strength, where we incorporated 2×1 minute of plank (both regular plank and side planks), which challenged a lot of the people in my class 🙂
Friday:
100 days away from Ironman Boulder and it was a rest day…It felt really good to take it easy today.
PM: We went to the Drake 1/2 Marathon packet pick-up for Sunday’s race and then started carb loading with breakfast for dinner…French Toast and Turkey Bacon…YUMMY 🙂
Saturday:
AM: WHY IS IT RAINING AGAIN?!?!?!?!?!?! We were suppose to do our 5 hour trainer ride to raise funds for the Tour de Cure/American Diabetes Association, but the weather was COLD AND WET (mid 30s), so we opted to postpone yet again. I don’t know when we will reschedule this fundraiser to, but we haven’t given up hope yet. Instead, we rode on the trainer in the basement. 4 hours was the goal, but I was so close to 60 miles at the end of my 4 hour ride that I continued to ride to 60 miles. I was mentally and physically feeling really strong. I had #noangrykitty thanks to Coeur Sports. I stayed hydrated thanks to Osmo Nutrition Active and my nutrition was spot on thanks to goldfish crackers and Barnana 🙂
PM: 30 minutes of core work followed by a pasta dinner with friends that we would be running the Drake 1/2 Marathon with on Sunday morning. Good times and great eats!!
Race ready!!
Sunday:
AM: The Drake 1/2 Marathon started at 7:30 am. My goal was to run a 2 hour race, relax and have fun. I crossed the finish line in 1:56:10 with a HUGE smile after having managed to run the entire race (including Bulldog Hill and quite a few others). I was ready to walk the hills if needed, but I just slowed my pace a bit and plowed through the hundreds of walking athletes. This course is not designed for a PR as it has some substantial hills in it, most of which are in the last 5K of the race, but I was only 3:30 slower than my PR, so I’ll take it!! With the Legend Tri 100 only 6 short weeks away, I’m glad I didn’t push harder, even though I had it in me to do so.
PM: 2100 yard swim…most of this workout was drills and 100s, so it was a nice and easy recovery swim after this morning’s race.
Weekly Totals: 16:08
Another week in the green 🙂
Swim: 7600 yards
Bike: 106 miles
Run: 24.5 miles
Strength Training: 2:15:00
How was your week? Did you have any races last week? If so, tell me about them 🙂
This week I had many #FaveWorkouts this week…it was full of #sbrlove. I decided to go with Tuesday morning’s run. The Iron Hippie, Basil and I set out at 4:30 am for our 90 minute run that included 6 x 0.3 mile hill repeats. It was a VERY cool morning for April in Iowa, but thankfully we hadn’t put our winter running gear away just yet. We ran ~20 minutes to warm up before beginning the hill repeats. While running down and up our 0.3 mile long hill, we saw a fox, multiple birds, many rabbits and a couple of squirrels. Basil was in retriever heaven…if only she were off leash, then she would have been even happier. After running our 6 hill repeats, we finished off our run by running around town. Finishing as the sun comes up is the #perfectstarttotheday 🙂
It is hard to believe we are only 16 weeks away from Ironman Boulder. This was the last big week before a much needed recovery week. It was full of rainy weather, lots of bike bottle washing, lots of technical fabric laundry and preparing lots of food to put in the freezer that we can pull out for a quick, healthy meal.
Lot’s of Coeur gear in this load…love my Coeur gear 🙂Homemade cornbread chili…chili topped with cornbread and baked in the oven = YUMMY!!Homemade Curry…chicken, squash, eggplant, bell peppers, onion, garlic, ginger and all the curry yummies 🙂
Swim: 7300 yards in 2 hours & 45 minutes
Overall, my swimming this week were very positive. Tuesday’s swim was even my #FaveWorkout of the week. I felt like I had good form in the pool and was able to maintain a solid pace when not working on drills.
#swimlove post 4 hour brick on Sunday, which felt surprisingly good 🙂
Bike: 46.9 miles in 3 hours & 30 minutes
This week’s rides involved some #intervals, some Zone 2 work, lots of sweat and even more #bikelove.
Run: 25.2 miles in 3 hours & 53 minutes
I had some AMAZING runs this week that included LOTS of #runlove. Tuesday’s run taught me to #NeverGiveUp and persevere. After this run, I felt on top of the world!! Saturday’s 16 mile run was also a really good run. I felt strong, I felt energized, I felt amazing, I felt happy during the longest run of the season.
Brick: 51.8 miles in 4 hours
Sunday was our only brick workout this week…3:30:00 on the trainer followed by a 30 minute run. I actually felt like I could have gone longer and faster on the run, but decided not to push things and take advantage of a slower run where I’m just logging the miles after Saturday’s LONG run.
Strength Training: 2:15:00
I had a good strength session on Monday, an awesome TRX workout on Thursday and a solid core work session on Saturday.
Basil was trying to help me with planks
Recovery:
There was LOTS of compression, LOTS of Osmo Nutrition Recovery, LOTS of Pure Clean Powder beet juice powder, LOTS of healthy whole foods for refueling, a massage, many salt baths and a couple of naps this week.
This week my #FaveWorkout was Tuesday’s swim workout. I was supposed to have gotten up early to swim in the morning before work, but I knew I had meetings all day and would potentially have the opportunity to swim over lunch. I decided to risk it, sleep in and hope for the best…a long enough break in my meeting to swim over lunch. Thankfully luck was on my side and I was given a 90 minute lunch break…just enough time to drive to the pool, complete my hour swim, quickly shower and head back to the location we were meeting at.
I ended up having a lane all to myself for the entire swim. I wasn’t entirely sure swimming at lunch would be in my favor as sometimes the lunch hour can mean a busy pool, but this was not the case on Tuesday. Thankfully my 2900 yard swim did not need a lot of equipment changes, so I was able to limit my breaks to what was scheduled and easily complete my swim in the allotted hour.
Ladder to 300 Warm-up: 300 swim, 4 x 100 drill (50 drill, 50 free)
Main Set: 2 x 150 (15 sec), 3 x 200 (20 sec), 2 x 250 build (20 sec), 1 x 300 race pace (15 sec), 3 x 100 race pace (20 sec)
Cool-down: 200 any stroke
#happygirl
I was very pleased with this workout…including breaks, I swam my 2900 yards at an average pace of 1:57/100. My form felt good…I felt fast in the water and felt like I could swim forever at this faster pace. There was lots of #swimlove with this workout 🙂 Bonus…I had an AWESOME run after my meetings. The kind of run where you feel on top of the world upon completion 🙂
This was the week of *meh* workouts. I started the week feeling tired from a busy weekend with my sister and twin nieces visiting us. I really enjoyed our time together, but it was nice to get back to normal this week.
Monday:
I completed an early morning strength training session before a long day at school. This was followed up with some #bikelove #interval work. While I enjoy spinning the wheels, this was a *meh* workout for me.
Tuesday:
This was an unplanned rest day. My body was tired and I listened. We walked the dogs downtown for some groceries and grilled some yummy food before an early to bed.
Wednesday:
After some early morning *meh* #bikelove, I found out my blood test results and am very pleased that my symptoms are better, I have no negative side effects from my medication and my blood work reflects these positive changes. There was some #runlove after work in 80+F temperatures…I’m just not use to these temperatures yet, so it was a bit warm and also a *meh* workout.
Thursday:
After work, I had some more *meh* #bikelove #intervals outdoors. It wasn’t super warm, but it was nice to get outside and ride…even if it was stationary. I followed this up with my #FaveWorkout of the week…my TRX class. Until this workout, I was feeling like most of my workouts this week were just *meh,* so I was glad to finally have a workout that was tough…really tough…but one that I loved!
Thanks to Coeur Sports for my #50womentokona shirt!!
Friday:
This was a scheduled rest day and I decided to take it since I knew I would be having a LONG day of workouts on Saturday.
Saturday:
Rise and Shine…it is our 70.3 practice day!! We started with 2200 yards of #swimlove, followed by 56 miles of #bikelove on the trainer and 13.1 miles of #runlove. There were some breaks in this workout…some longer than others, especially when having to get from the pool at the gym to our house and on the trainer, but we knew it wouldn’t exactly simulate a race. The 56 miles on the trainer was SO…MUCH…TOUGHER..than riding outdoors. This definitely required a LOT of #heartandcourage to complete. The run was also tough…going hard on the bike definitely made the legs feel like jello lead on the run. Thanks to Coeur Sports for the #stylishspeed and #noangrykitty, Osmo Nutrition for keeping me properly hydrated because #womenarenotsmallmen and Barnana for my bike nutrition. A sushi dinner was the perfect reward for covering 70.3 miles today 🙂
I was hoping for about 3:15, but I think I might be able to come close to this outdoors.
Sunday:
Just an easy 2 hour bike ride to spin out the legs from yesterday while watching Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit…if you haven’t seen this action packed movie (and like that kind of movie), I would HIGHLY recommend it. It kept my attention (and distracted my from my sore sits bones) for almost 2 hours 🙂
This is one way to watch a movie…don’t worry, I was still warming up at this point 😉I went SUPER easy!! It felt AWESOME!!
Later in the day, my calves were NOT happy with me! I tried to play basketball with some friends and their kids and my legs were SCREAMING very bad things at me. I think they just wanted a break 😉 Thankfully Basil wanted some Easter snuggles and to relax a bit with me…
Weekly Totals:
Swim: 2200 yards
Bike: 129 miles
Run: 19.6 miles
Strength Training: 1:45:00
Total Duration: 14:56:00
How was your week? What were the highlights of your week?
I was beginning to think that I wasn’t going to have a #FaveWorkout this week. It has been a week full of *meh* workouts. Not that I wasn’t challenged in my workouts…I definitely was, I just didn’t feel the *love* that I often feel with challenging workouts this week.
Thankfully last night I finally had a workout that brought me the *love* I had been missing all week. I had a challenging interval workout on the bike before teaching TRX. While walking into TRX, my legs were shaking due to the fatigue I put them through on the bike…Uh Oh…this is going to set me up for a challenging TRX class. So what did this challenge consist of?
Single Leg Squat and Curtsey Lunge Combination move…one single leg squat followed by one curtsey lunge is one repetition. Complete all repetitions for one leg, before switching to the other leg (12 repetitions each leg)
Upon completing this workout, I was completely exhausted and full of satisfaction for what I had accomplished! I had a couple of my regular participants (who have been regular participants in my class for over a year) tell me that this was the toughest workout we’ve done in our class. I was glad to know that I wasn’t the only one who thought it was tough and had the jello-legs feeling as we left the building 😉
How is it already March 31? It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating the new year and looking forward to new adventures in 2015. With the passing of these first three months of 2015, it is time for me to reflect on the intentions that I set for myself for 2015.
Believe…I am definitely believing more and more every day in myself, my training and my abilities. A perfect example of this happened last week when I was not sure I would be able to finish my Lucky 7s run as scheduled, but it turned out to be my #FaveWorkout because I mentally overcame barriers allowing myself to believe in my abilities and finish this workout mentally and physically strong. I want to improve upon this belief in myself by spending 5 minutes every evening focusing on my strengths, positive visualization and mantras to help me with mental strength and focus.
Break down barriers…I am trying to organize and start a women’s only ride in Ames this summer on Monday evenings. I am hoping this will allow more women to become comfortable with cycling, provide them with a community of women who have similar interests, broaden their horizon on safe local cycling routes and educate them on a variety of different cycling topics. I have a lot of ideas for this…now I just need women who want to branch out of their comfort zone and ride 🙂
Be Present…I am going to be honest…I struggle with this. I am always thinking about what is next and planning for the future. I need to slow down and be more mindful of the here and now.
Did you set intentions for yourself for 2015? Have you checked in lately to see where you are at with your intentions? What is going well? What do you still need to improve upon?
I can’t believe it is already the end of March…time sure does fly by!! Not to mention we are only 18 weeks out from Ironman Boulder and 10 weeks out from Legend 100 Triathlon…eek!! So this is what my week post spring break consisted of…
Monday:
I was so tired that I slept in Monday morning and completed both my trainer ride and strength routine after work. The trainer ride was one that I LOVE…3 x ladder (10 minute warm up, 3×3 min Z4 (with 2 min recovery between), Spin 4 minutes, 3×2 min Z4-5 (with 90 sec recovery between), Spin 4 minutes, 3×1 min Z5 (with 60 sec recovery between), Spin 4 minutes, 4×30 sec sprint (with 30 sec recovery between), 7 minute cool down). It is a good physical challenge 🙂 #bikelove #progress
Tuesday:
I got up Tuesday morning to run my “Lucky 7s” treadmill run. I was dreading this run, but it turned out to be my #FaveWorkout this week and gave me lots of #runlove. This workout was all about overcoming mental challenges. Ok…I’ll admit, it is full of physical challenges as well. After work I headed to the pool for some #swimlove. Typically I don’t enjoy swimming at this particular pool, but today was much better…they were refilling the pool and the water was cool. 2400 yards later, I was wishing my workout were a bit longer instead of shorter for a change 🙂
My girls love each other so much!!
Wednesday:
I was so tired this morning! I didn’t want to get out of bed to ride, but I did and I’m very glad I did.
“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” ~Anthony Robbins
After a long day of school, I made my way back to the pool for some more #swimlove. I was hoping the pool would be the same temperature as yesterday, but alas the heater was working and the water was back up to the 85F range…UGH. Despite the warmer water, I still managed to enjoy my 2400 yard workout 🙂
Mya treed a squirrel, which continued to tease her…poor girl 😉
Thursday:
I was really tired today…this was turning out to be a very long first week back at school post spring break. I decided to sleep in and skip my morning run. Sometimes listening to one’s body is really important and mine was telling me I needed sleep. After work, I had some #bikelove with a 10 x all out workout. I was super happy with this workout since I am making #progress and getting stronger with every workout. I followed this up with a full body TRX session, where we did a lot of leg work.
Friday:
Friday was a rest day for everyone in our house…
I’m not sure how this is comfortable, but Basil slept like this for quite a while.
Saturday:
I started my day with some core work…I finally reached 5 minutes of holding plank…WAHOO!! Then it was time to hop on the bike for a 3 hour ride followed by a 30 minute run. I love brick workouts, but this ride was a bit boring…mostly Z2 ride with only 2 x 15 minutes in Z3. The run was awesome…cold, but fun. My sister and twin nieces came down to visit us and stay with us for the weekend. They arrived at about 12:30 pm. After lunch we walked to the park and enjoyed some time in the sunshine…playing on the playground, throwing the frisbee for the dogs and playing tag. We made homemade pizza for dinner and then went to get some froyo for dessert 😉
Sunday:
I got up early to run some long miles, but it was raining and COLD…there is nothing worse than being cold and wet, so I went back to bed. I knew the rain was suppose to quit by 8 am, so I decided to run later in the day…it would have to be way later in the day, since my sister and I were participating in a 5K race at 11 am in Des Moines. I asked Sarah what her goal time was for the 5K and she though 45 minutes was doable. Now that I knew her goal, I decided to try and push her just a little bit. We finished in just under 42 minutes. Congratulations Sarah!! I know you can break 40 minutes next time 🙂 We met my aunts and cousin for some lunch in Des Moines before heading home. This meant the Iron Hippie and I went out for our long run at 3 pm. It was about 57F, which was nice, but the winds were sustained at 28 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. Can you say WINDY?!?!?! I was just grateful to be running outside in the sunshine and in a tank top and shorts.
Legs up a wall staring at Ironman motivation post long run
Weekly Totals:
Swim: 4800 yards
Bike: 91.7 miles
Run: 22.2 miles
Strength Training: 2:15:00
Total Time: 14 hours & 15 minutes
How was your week of training? What were the highlights of your week?
PushMyLimits 